UK overseas aid expenditure

The UK spent £8.6bn on official development assistance in 2012. Around two-thirds of this was distributed bilaterally, and the remainder was core donations to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, which then distribute aid themselves.

The UK’s bilateral aid is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Ethiopia is the largest recipient of bilateral aid (£344m in 2011). 82% of the UK’s multilateral aid goes to the EU, the UN and the World Bank for their own development work. Contributions to EU development work have increased substantially over the past 30 years.

The Government has committed to increase aid as a proportion of national income to 0.7% by 2013. The proportion was 0.56% in 2012, implying a sharp jump in expenditure between 2012 and 2013.